SINGAPORE — The Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) revealed on Friday (May 13) that it is working with the French authorities on their investigations of possible vote-buying in Japan’s winning bid for the 2020 Olympic Games.

This comes after a Singapore-registered company, Black Tidings, was linked to a €1.3 million (S$2 million) payment reportedly from Japan’s Olympic bid team to Papa Massata Diack, son of  former athletics chief Lamine Diack.

Responding to queries from TODAY, the CPIB said: “The Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau is working with the French authorities on this case. As investigation is still ongoing, we will not be able to
comment further.”

French prosecutors said this week that they are investigating allegations of corruption and money laundering involving the two secret payments made in October 2013 by the Tokyo 2020 Olympic bid team — apparently aimed at getting support for Tokyo’s Olympic ambitions — to Black Tiding’s bank account.

According to the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (Wada) independent commission, Black Tidings — which was registered as a sole-proprietorship in July 2014 — is owned by a certain Ian Tan Tong Han, and the account is linked to Papa Massata. The report identified Tan as a consultant to Athlete Management and Services, a Dentsu Sports subsidiary based in Switzerland that markets commercial rights granted by the IAAF.

TODAY found that the registered address for Black Tidings was a flat in Dakota Crescent. When this newspaper visited the apartment, a woman who identified herself as Tan’s mother said her son occasionally stayed with her when he was not working overseas.

Tan, believed to be in his 20s, had also helped to secure a S$300,000 cash sponsorship for the Asian Athletics Association (AAA) last year.

The Tokyo 2020 Bidding Committee has since stated that the €1.3 million payment was “a legitimate consultant’s fee” and that the fully audited expense had not raised suspicions among the campaign team at the time.

The money-for-votes scandal is the latest to hit international sport in recent times, with football’s world governing body Fifa currently embroiled in a corruption crisis that has resulted in bans for former supremo Sepp Blatter and ex-Uefa boss Michel Platini.

Former Fifa head of security Chris Eaton, who also worked at Interpol, told TODAY that sports’ governing bodies are in a “crisis of confidence”.

Mr Eaton, who is the Integrity Expert and Adviser to the President at the Doha-based International Center for Sport Security, also believes that the organisations need help in
self-regulation.

“The fact that so many acts of corruption across sport governance are being exposed today confirms two core issues: First, sport governing bodies cannot effectively self-regulate without the support of governments, and this means rethinking the cherished ‘autonomy’ principle,” said the Australian.

“Secondly, the structure of sport governance no longer fits within today’s global financial realities. The model must change to become more responsible, accountable and transparent if sport bodies are to survive these crises as they continue to unfold. They must accept external regulation and oversight. Governments must treat sport governing bodies as another global business requiring rules and supervision in the public interest.”

While the Republic has seen the likes of Singaporeans Wilson Raj Perumal and Dan Tan named in football’s global match-fixing scandals, Mr Eaton credited the Singapore authorities  for “leading the way” in weeding out sports-related corruption.

He added: “Singapore is now in many ways leading the way. After a few years of denial, authorities, especially Singapore prosecutors, are taking exemplary action to protect global sport from Singapore-based or influenced criminals.”